The Herb King



"That's right. If we can somehow weaken the seal, your ancestor could break free with her own strength. To do this, I need the help of everyone in this room. I will make a Rune that will weaken the seal and I need everyone to channel their world essence into the rune to maximize its strength. With your help, the chances of unsealing the ancestor of the Ancient Fairy will increase!" Aethelwolf glanced at the experts one by one. He knew that it was difficult to convince these top experts, but with the threat of the continent's destruction, they wouldn't have a choice but to lend their hands. 

"I will lead the experts of the Mystic Island to aid you, Sir Aethelwolf!" Estes promised solemnly. 

"Dammit! I don't like you, Aethelwolf! However, I will help you this time since this involves the fate of our Regalis Continent!" Lark Whitmond snorted with a cold look. 

"The Zion Empire will also lend you our support, Sir Aethelwolf!" Gilbert Holt smiled.

"My Azure Phoenix Empire will make some investigations. If your words are true, then I will provide you with our help." A gentle voice echoed in the huge hall. It was the current Empress of the Azure Phoenix Empire, Shiphra Azure. She was wearing a golden empress robe that perfectly matched her long blue hair. There was a thin veil that covered her face, but her starry eyes were visible for everyone to see. She only lifted her veil once and from then on she was known as the most beautiful woman in the Regalis Continent. Empress Shiphra was ranked 4th in the Heavenly Might Rankings, but a long time had passed since she last showed her strength. No one knew how strong she was at the moment.

The Level 5 Espers inside the discussion hall hesitated for a moment before they expressed their desire to help. They had no choice. Everyone has to contribute to guarantee the success of the plan. No one dared to reject, afraid that they would incur the wrath of everyone else. 

Soon, all Level 5 Espers were forced to join the plan. 

"Good! Now, I'll tell you guys how the plan goes..." Aethelwolf led the discussion of the plan and everyone listened closely. With the imminent crisis at hand, all these experts temporarily discarded their pride as they obediently listened to the plan.

"...Once the Rune is put in place, everyone has to channel their energy into the Rune to strengthen its unsealing power. I will provide you guys with sufficient medicinal pills so that everyone can recover their energy. To compensate you for your help, my Barden Territory is willing to send out our best Engravers to help you strengthen the Defensive Runes in your respective empires. However, you have the ensure their safety..." Aethelwolf was willing to help these people since they were all on the same boat now. If their empires are destroyed, the power of the Regalis Continent will be weakened considerably. He didn't want that to happen since they needed all the strength they could get. 

"I have one question." An expert suddenly said.

Aethelwolf turned his gaze to the expert and nodded his head. "Alright. Let me hear it." 

"Since we already planned to go inside the Frigid Snow Dimension, what will happen to the competition of the young talents?" The expert asked while calmly looking at Aethelwolf. 

The others were also curious about this. 

Some of these guys were still worried about the rankings of their empires even at a time like this. Aethelwolf sneered in his heart, but he didn't show it to his face. "The flow of time inside the Frigid Snow Dimension is different. Even if we stay there for a long time, only a few minutes would pass in the real world so there is no need to worry about the competition. It can continue as per normal, but I suggest ending it as soon as possible so that we can make some preparations before the Underworlders will attack." 

"Let's shorten the group competition to a single day and wrap it up immediately. Since my Mystic Island is responsible for this, I will make the arrangements. You guys have nothing to worry about." Estes muttered.

Now that Estes has spoken, they could only agree to his words. The power of the Mystic Island was still a huge deterrent force to some of them.

"The experts of my Azure Phoenix Empire that are dispatched in the Northern Region have reported that there is indeed a huge army of Underworlders gathering as we speak. I suggest that we form a defensive line in the borders between the Northern Region and the Central Plains. There are some empires in the Central Plains and they will be the first ones who will be attacked once the Underworlder army advances." Empress Shiphra took out a map and drew out a line between the Northern Region and the Central Plains. "If we wait for them to attack, our empires will only be destroyed one by one! We must gather our fighting forces in this area to hold off the Underworlder army." 

"Empress Shiphra's plan is feasible! I will offer my support to your plan!"

"I'm also willing to hold off the Underworlder army in the borders!" 

While everyone was currying her favor, Aethelwolf was surprised by how fast she managed to get information from the Northern Region. It seemed like the Azure Phoenix Empire already knows a lot of things about the Underworlders. "This is indeed a good plan. I will lead half of our fighting force to aid you in the borders." 

"Sir Aethelwolf, what do you mean by this? We should send all our forces to the borders and stop those Undwerworlders from entering the civilized regions!" 

"That's right! Why are you preserving your strength at this moment?" 

Hearing this, Aethelwolf swept his gaze at everyone inside the discussion hall. They couldn't help but feel astonished when they sensed his ice-cold gaze. For some reason, they felt threatened.

Aethelwolf's lips curved upwards, forming a mocking smile. He then shook his head as he said. "The Underworlders are physically strong so they can dig through the earth. The reason why they are gathering in the Northern Region is because it is much easier to dig through the sand. However, what will happen if they emerged in front of your empires? Do you guys think that those Underworlders are brainless idiots? Naive! They produced a Transcendent being after the ancient war back then, but our Regalis Continent which is filled with precious resources didn't even manage to produce a single Transcendent being!" 

Those who wanted to show off in front of Empress Shiphra lowered their heads in embarrassment after hearing his words. 

Empress Shiphra nodded her head. "Sir Aethelwolf is right. Just send half of your fighting force to the borders while the other half should remain in your empires. Now that we plan to join forces, we should elect a leader who will command the entire army in the borders. It will be meaningless if we fight separately with such a big army at our disposal."

Everyone hesitated when they heard this. Who among them doesn't want this opportunity? 

Some people turned their gazes to Aethelwolf, while a few people looked at Estes. Among everyone present, only the two of them were qualified for this position. 

When he noticed them looking at him, Aethelwolf shook his head. He had other plans in his mind. "I suggest that we give this position to Argus. I believe everyone will agree with me on this. That guy has been in the Northern Region for a long time and he is more knowledgeable about the area than most of us here. The soldiers will be more at ease under his leadership." 

Argus! 

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Argus was the only person who could subdue the entire army with his strength and prestige. 

"By the way, I've employed the help of the Barbarian tribes of the Northern Region so don't attack them. They are already my people and attacking them means making me your enemy!" Aethelwolf muttered in a cold voice. 

"What?! You actually took in the Barbarians of the Northern Region?!" 

"Sir Aethelwolf, those guys are unable to gather world essence and they are only good physically..."

"Enough! I've said what I've said. You guys are welcome to hurt them if you want but believe me, I won't rest until I kill the person who hurt my people! No one can save you, not even Argus himself!" Aethelwolf arrogantly stated. 

The experts were stunned by his words. He was actually willing to become everyone's enemy for the sake of the Barbarians! Most of the people inside the discussion hall had inner disgust for that race because of their history and skin color. They thought that Aethelwolf was crazy because he was willing to take in those people. However, there were also some experts inside the room who stared at him in admiration.